Featured Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Scientists are left baffled after NASA’s Perseverance rover discovered a bizarre rock on Mars.
The captured images show hundreds of millimetre-sized marbles packed together in an alien-like mass.
Unlike anything ever seen before, the marbles strikingly stand out in the rusty red dust that covers the Martian surface.
This discovery follows another strange Martian find of spider-like cracks in the soil known as araneiforms.
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However, the team are unsure what 'quirk of geology' could've created the strange rock formation that's never been observed on Earth.
Some scientists think the discovery could be a link to Mars’ 4.6 billion-year-old past.
Once upon a time, the Red Planet was home to thousands of massive volcanoes that released powerful eruptions.
US space agency NASA described past outbursts there as 'super eruptions' - way more explosive than normal eruptions. Perseverance found the new rock formation along the rim of Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide area that scientists believe may once have been filled with water.
"The Perseverance Science Team were astonished by a strange rock comprised of hundreds of millimetre-sized spheres," said Alex Jones, a PhD student from Imperial College London's department of earth science.
"Placing these features in geologic context will be critical for understanding their origin, and determining their significance for the geological history of the Jezero Crater rim and beyond."
The mass is actually made up of spherules which are mostly-round pebbles that range from 0.01mm to 4mm in diameter (up to 0.15 inches). These spherules can differ in shape, though.
Some are stretched out into more oval shapes, others have angular edges and a few even have little holes in them. But, no one knows yet why there’s so much variety in such a small space.
"Each of these formation mechanisms would have vastly different implications for the evolution of these rocks, so the team is working hard to determine their context and origin," Jones added.
On Earth, spherules form when molten rock cools quickly during a volcanic eruption or when a meteorite impact vaporises the condensation of rock.
Dr. Matthew Chojnacki, a planetary geologist at the Planetary Science Institute, suggested the spheres could be from 'frothy lava' that cooled quickly but can't be certain without more data from 'chemistry or mineralogy.' Furthermore, Dr. Joel Davis, planetary geologist at Imperial College London, said that water flowing underground billions of years ago may have formed the spherules.
"[This was] potentially when conditions were too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface," Dr. Davis explained.
"Findings like this help geologists build a picture of how and when Mars might have changed, from a warm, wet planet 3-4 billion of years ago, to the cold, very dry environment we see today."
